North Cross School Shanghai Reports on MPH Student Trip to China

Over the spring break, 25 MPH Upper School students enjoyed a trip of a lifetime in China. As part of their trip, they learned about the ancient art of Chinese calligraphy from students and teachers at the North Cross School Shanghai. Following their visit, this article was released by our friends in China: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/Pywf3jyf8gHO2tTiLR8iig.

The direct translation can be found below:

On April 19th, Shanghai Noko School welcomed a group of special visitors, teachers and students of Manlius Pebble Hill School, a famous private school in New York. They came to admire and experienced a Chinese traditional culture course that combines calligraphy and paper-cutting.

Chinese calligraphy is an ancient and long-lasting nib art. It has been with the development of Chinese civilization for a long time. There are only a handful of people in the world who have calligraphy art. Chinese calligraphy, on the other hand, contains profound historical connotations, from Oracle and Jinwen to Daxu, Xiaoyan, Lishu, to the Eastern Han, Wei and Jin Dynasties, cursive scripts, scripts, and basic stereotypes. As a cultural treasure that exudes the charm of ancient art, Chinese calligraphy is not only sought after and loved by generations of literati, but also attracts a group of foreign friends who admire Chinese culture.

In the calligraphy class, these foreign friends who came from afar learned that the calligraphy of the Jin Dynasty was beautiful and charming. The calligraphy of the Tang Dynasty was rigorous, arrogant, and the calligraphy of the Song Dynasty was ups and downs, and the pursuit of the development of calligraphy for three thousand years. Historical footprint.

Chinese calligraphy is an artistic treasure that the Chinese nation is proud of. It is believed that the teachers and students from Manlius Pebble Hill School not only appreciate the exquisiteness of calligraphy in Noko, but also become the messenger of Chinese culture after returning home.

The art of paper-cutting is one of the oldest folk arts of the Chinese nation; as a kind of openwork art, it can give people a visually emptied feeling and artistic enjoyment. At the moment when the students from Manlius Pebble Hill School got the scissors and the red rice paper, they couldn’t wait to get up and wanted to experience the accomplishment of a piece of paper art. Because the cut pattern is a little simpler than cutting the Chinese characters, the students started practicing with simpler floral patterns under the guidance of the teacher. The main work of flower paper-cutting lies in origami and painting patterns. The paper folding is very easy. It is mainly repeated many times. Most of the students are well-understood. The girls are especially ingenious. Some students suddenly flash inspiration when painting the pattern. Adding elements like little stars, it seems that students have no teacher what to do when they want to be romantic. Everyone was shocked when they opened the paper-cut pattern. I didn’t expect to fold a few paintings and harvest a “New World”. It also opened the door to China’s profound and profound traditional culture.

The final step is to put the finished product in a layered fabric press to save the beautiful meaning and precious memories of Chinese paper-cut art into time, never fade. The students also wrote their names, the words they wanted to say, and the people they wanted to send in the plastic layer and sealed them. I hope that all the good things will come.

Our traditional Chinese culture class ended with the good wishes of our classmates. Not only did we harvest the Chinese art that we made with our heart, but we also planted a seed that was curious about Chinese culture.